New nickel deposit on more drinks sold in Vt.?

Bottles and cans become a blur when Mike Smith and his team quickly sort the empties at the redemption center behind the Beverage Warehouse in Winooski, Vt. "There's a lot of people that come here every day," Smith said. "We do about $1800 average, every day."

That sum is totaled up only a nickel at a time for returns. Now, what materials the state's redemption centers handle are up for debate. Some Vt. state lawmakers are considering an expansion of the state's bottle deposit program, including Sen. Anthony Pollina, P-Washington County. He has argued the expansion would raise money for the state, create jobs, be good for charity groups whose fundraisers involve collecting cans, and ensure more recycling for a cleaner environment.

Opponents have expressed concern, doubting a deposit expansion would change people's recycling habits much. Opponents also have wondered if consumers would end up being stung in the pocketbook if producers were to raise prices to cover extra costs on them of administering more deposits. Some also have warned that the current deposit system is inefficient, and expanding it could make it even more so.

Paul Burns of the Vt. Public Interest Research Group backs Pollina's senate proposal to add a deposit to containers that currently have none. "It works for recycling, and the public loves it," Burns said of the bottle bill.

Currently, deposits are added to beer, soda, and hard liquor. Under the suggested expansion, bottled water, sports drinks, and iced teas are among the beverages that would have a nickel deposit tacked on. Milk and other multiple-serving containers would not, Burns explained. Other states, including Maine, have gone that route. "If you included those [items with new deposits] in with our existing bottle bill program now, you'd recycle about 100-million more cans and bottles every single year in Vermont."

But Vermont's Governor thinks there's another way to encourage recycling. "This world has changed," said Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vt.

Shumlin predicts if Vermont can build a statewide system where all recycling can be dumped into single bins, with more of those bins installed in offices, stores, and restaurants everywhere, then people will be "greener" just because it's so easy. "A time will come when taking a bottle back to the grocery store will not be necessary," Shumlin said Wednesday.

Not all members of Shumlin's own administration are on board just yet. A draft report released this week by DSM Environmental Services of Windsor, Vt. and the Tellus Institute of Boston crunches the numbers of the options for the Vt. Agency of Natural Resources. That report is viewable here.

The Vt. Dept. of Environmental Conservation said it is studying the report closely, but doesn't have an opinion right now. "We're trying to assess what are the options and the pros and cons," DEC Commissioner David Mears told New England Cable News.

Mears said he also wants to hear from consumers at a public forum on the issue next week. That is scheduled for March 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pavillion Building in Montpelier, according to the website of the Vt. Agency of Natural Resources.

As for the money from cans that people paid deposits on then never redeemed? In Vermont, all those unclaimed nickels stay with the beverage bottlers and distributors, Burns said. Part of the changes to current law up for consideration would allow the state to go after the unclaimed money for its use, Burns said, potentially meaning $2-million a year. Some states, including Massachusetts, already do that with their unclaimed deposits.

Mike Smith told NECN he isn't sure how this'll all turn out, but he knows if the deposit law is expanded, it'll mean a lot more work for him and other redemption centers that collect handling fees. "It means big money for us," he said..

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